BOOK REVIEWS

KIRKUS REVIEW

The Invisible Boat (starred review) ✪

 In this middle-grade novel, three children journey in a magical boat to help reunite humans with the elemental world.

It’s a sad day for the white Temple family when it has to leave Honey Creek Farm for the city. Before leaving, Julie, 11, and her almost two years younger brother, Leo, make several surprising discoveries, including a little bottle with an exquisitely made tiny ship inside, complete with a swan figurehead. They also meet a little man called Curly Beard, who explains how they can sail in the magical boat. But it’s not a toy; a crucial plan is afoot to save Earth from ecological disaster by reuniting humans with elementals like Curly Beard, “little folk…such as elves, fairies, wights, imps,” and more. (It’s unclear what these Old World beings are doing in what’s apparently North America.) Joining their mission is a new neighbor, Annabel, a pretty black girl around Leo’s age who walks with crutches. Healing the planet begins with aiding the Queen of the Waters, but first, the children must free Curly Beard, who’s been captured. Their path will be filled with danger and difficulty—but the kids have guides, resources, courage, and good hearts to help them. Many writers have tried to conjure up that true feeling of magic in their fantasy adventures, but Müller (Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, 2018, etc.) is one of the few who succeed. Lush, appealing descriptions stand out, as in an area packed with hundreds of captivating temptations that the children must resist: rooms full of sweet songbirds; “every imaginable toy”; intriguing weapons; jugglers and acrobats; and much more. Like C.S. Lewis, Müller offers effective characterizations (some may object to Annabel’s being described as “lame,” but her point of view is represented) and an exciting plot that’s ballasted by moral seriousness. The quest’s puzzles and challenges are original and involving, and the ending is genuinely moving. It also suggests further escapades to come—let’s hope so.

A delightful, compelling fantasy adventure sure to win fans.

Eric G. Müller has crafted a wisdom filled tale reminiscent of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis that moves quickly and is difficult to put down. His story takes us into this “own world” where we find out that this world is actually a common world that all may enter through a door of love and reverence. Modern life has veiled these experiences from us. This tale is for children and adults alike.

~Tim Paholak

Müller’s imaginative world is remarkably creative and rich in detail from the trip on a magical boat down a kitchen drain pipe to body-crushing granapods.   The children meet the dreadful man-eating binagatorials in the sewers of the city, an underground King, and a watery Queen who weeps tears of bubbles containing the sad and joyful memories of human beings.  The children must evade astonishing terrors, unlock confusing puzzles, and fight wicked creatures.   The plot moves quickly and with incredibly imaginative skill so that it is hard to put the book down. I read the text aloud to a ten-year-old boy, who would repeatedly  say to me, “No! Don’t stop!” even when it was time for his supper. Unlike some popular fantasy books for children, this is not just about adventures, but has a moral quality.  The struggles have meaning for the future of the world and act as a metaphor for our responsible stewardship of the earth and the health of our planet.  It is really a story of transformation on many levels including the transformation of evil.  There is a profound wisdom in its pages reminiscent of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works.  It is wonderful chapter book to read aloud to child and for older children to enjoy on their own.

~ Margaret Gorman, Waldorf adult and high school educator and mentor

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